Russia’s economy will stagnate in coming 5 years — ex-minister

The Russia’s economy will stagnate in the coming 5 years, head of the Civil Initiatives Committee and ex-finance minister Alexey Kudrin said on Tuesday.

The Russia’s economy will stagnate in the coming 5 years, head of the Civil Initiatives Committee and ex-finance minister Alexey Kudrin said on Tuesday.

"The average forecast is that economic stagnation will follow the recession because no steps were made earlier for structural reforms," Kudrin said. "The economy that will stagnate during the coming five years at the least is the most serious challenge for the president. Even if reforms are initiated, they will not bear fruit in 1-2 years," the expert added.

The real income of the population will drop in Russia in 2015 for the first time in 15 years. "The situation is unique, no decline in real incomes of the population occurred in 15 years," Kudrin said.

The former official said he does not share the view of the Finance Ministry that the national economy has begun to recover.

"It is difficult for me to estimate whether we have passed the peak of the crisis or not. But I would say that the second quarter of 2015 will be very difficult", Kudrin said.

The expert added that the second quarter of the year will be as difficult as the first one and by the end of the year the economy decline will be about 4%.

Earlier, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the peak of the crisis was behind and the recovery had begun. According to the minister, the ruble has been strengthening and has become one of the strong currencies since the beginning of the year.